The Son of Hades
by joechua
Summary: Someone is betraying Olympus, and he's not Ares.
1. My Father Saves My Life

_The boy stood in front of the shadowy figure. He was around 20 years old, but strangely had glowing golden eyes. He pounded his scythe, and spoke with a rasping voice._

"_So we are agreed?"_

_And then the shadowy figure spoke._

"_Yes."_

_The shadowy figure extended a hand, and the boy took it. They shook hands, and a deep, rumbling laughter echoed around the throne room._

I woke up with a start, and realized I was in a cave. Stalactites gripped the ceiling, sharp fingers. It was dark and humid, and I heard footsteps. A few seconds later, and my father strode into the room, his Helm of Darkness carried by his side.

"Three days." Hades said.

"What?"

"You have been unconscious for three days."

I tried hard to remember where I had been three days ago, but my memory failed to serve me.

"We found you near May Castellan's house."

May Castellan. Hearing that name, my memories started to flush back into my head. I was scouting May's house, finding out whether it was guarded by Kronos, when a pack of _dracanae_ attacked me.

So far, only Percy and I knew about the plan, and I was not planning on telling Hades.

"You overexerted your powers. You seriously thought you could summon a whole legion of Roman soldiers? You require more common sense and training. Alecto will help me teach you."

A flurry of wings, and Alecto materialized right in front of me.

"Hello, son of Hades," she hissed. "It's time."

And I followed her to the Fields of Asphodel.


	2. I Go To China

"You will have to learn how to shadow travel," Alecto hissed.

"Okay…" I said.

"Imagine yourself melting into the shadows. You will then enter the shadow world. In the shadow world, space is infinitely small and you can reappear from any shadow anytime, anywhere."

I tried to absorb all the information.

"Now try to enter the shadow world through the shadow of that tree."

I ran towards the tree and tried, as hard as I could, to imagine myself melting into the shadows.

And I failed.

I hit the tree with a resounding "boom", and lay on the ground, dazed.

"Fool! Try again!"

Now, I cautiously walked into the tree.

Suddenly, everything turned a shade of light gray. Not like it was colorful before, anyway. Every step I took brought me forward as far as I wanted to go. Now I imagined myself melting out of the shadows, the total opposite, and I walked right out from under a cow.

Yes, under a cow.

I stood up, dusted myself, and walked a few metres before I realized something was wrong.

The same boy from my dreams was standing before a large chasm. His eyes were glowing like before. He reached into the chasm, and a miniscule object, as small as a grain of sand, flew out. It was glowing, and when the boy touched it, he spoke.

"Finally. I am complete."

And with a snap of his fingers, he was gone.

Anyway, where was I?

I looked around. There were many people, and they dressed like peasants. They were speaking in some language, and it was Chinese to me. Wait, it _was _Chinese!

I was pretty sure I was in China.


	3. I Have a Geography Lesson

"You shadow travelled to China." Hades confirmed.

"Yup." I said.

"At least you shadow travelled."

My mind was racing. Should I mention Kronos?

"There was a very deep chasm in China. What was in there?"

"It was the main entrance to Tartarus. Tartarus is so deep, it goes all the way to the other side of the world. When Olympus was in Greece, Tartarus was at the opposite side of the world, somewhere in the Pacific Ocean. The entrance was the Mariana Trench. Now, Olympus has shifted to America, so Tartarus is in China."

What? Somehow, I never knew that, although I spent so much of my time in the Underworld.

* * *

_The boy was at the river Styx. His eyes were not glowing now, but his scar was as visible as ever. It ran down his face, like raindrops down a window._

_Cautiously, he stepped into the Styx._

_He screamed, but I heard nothing. I could see his agony._

"_Remember your mortal point!" I wanted to scream, but again no sound came out._

I woke up from a nightmare, again.

What are my dreams telling me?

Someone was helping Kronos, betraying Olympus… Who could that be?

My first thought was Ares. But he did not have such a deep voice, not as deep as the figure in my dreams.

So I knew I had to find the figure, whoever that was, and kill him.


	4. I Complain to Percy

Fresh air.

I exited the Underworld through DOA Recording Studios, and strode onto the sidewalk.

It was a cool, dry night, with leaves rustling soothingly. I found a lone shadow and walked into it.

Everything turned dark gray again. I took small steps, reminding myself not to walk to far. Imagining myself reappearing from a tree near Camp Half-Blood, I took a deep breath, and stepped out.

Color flooded back into the world, and I felt dizzy. I could do this once in a while, but not too frequently.

* * *

"Nico!" Annabeth said with surprise. "What are you doing here?"

"I came to see Percy." I said matter-of-factly.

"Oh… okay."

I walked towards cabin three, Poseidon's cabin.

"Nico?"

"Yes."

"Welcome back! Have you considered my offer of staying here? In my cabin?"

"No thanks. I came to discuss the plan."

His face turned all serious again.

"I… I think Luke…"

"He's not Luke! He's Kronos! Luke wouldn't betray us like that!" Percy bellowed.

"Okay, fine. I think Luke – before he was Kronos that is – bathed in the river Styx. That's why he could sustain being Kronos' host body."

"He did that?"

"I think so. I've also been having these dreams. Someone, one of the Olympians have been helping Kronos."

"Hmmm… Is it Ares?"

"No. Ares doesn't have such a deep voice. The person in my dreams has a very low voice. Do you know who it could be?"

"I have no idea. Maybe you can ask Chiron? He may give you a quest."

I nodded my head, a silent agreement, and headed towards the Big House.


End file.
